NuGEN and Caliper Couple Solutions to Automate NGS Sample Prep

The technology is scheduled to be available before the end of March.!--h2>

NuGEN Technologies and Caliper Life Sciences entered into a co-marketing agreement for the development of automated methods for next-generation sequencing (NGS) sample preparation. The partnership will combine NuGEN’s Ovation® and Encore™ reagent solutions on Caliper’s liquid-handling Sciclone® NGS Workstation.

The automation solution is scheduled to be available before the end of March. It is being designed to automate the processing of a range of sample types such as nucleic acids extracted from sorted cells, fine needle aspirates, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue, and other limited and compromised clinical samples.

NuGEN’s Ovation Prokaryotic RNA-Seq System is designed to enrich for mRNA in next-generation sequencing libraries. The Sciclone NGS Workstation can be integrated with Caliper’s LabChip® GX, which is an analytical QC platform, and the LabChip XT, a preparative nucleic acid fractionation platform, for extended hands-off automation.

Under their agreement Caliper and NuGEN will first co-develop automation scripts for NuGEN’s Ovation RNA-Seq System and Encore NGS Multiplex System I on Caliper’s Sciclone NGS Workstation to provide high-throughput library construction from as little as 500 pg of total RNA.

“NuGEN’s Ovation RNA-Seq System is the first RNA-Seq preparation kit without any requirement for poly(A) selection or ribosomal RNA depletion,” points out Elizabeth Hutt, CEO of NuGEN Technologies. “Working from total RNA reduces the bias inherent in the selection steps and results in a more complete data set and a more comprehensive understanding of the transcriptome including noncoding RNAs.”

Yesterday, NuGen reported penetration of its Ovation system into the academic market. Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Washington became the first two institutions to receive the platform through a limited-access program targeting medical and environmental microbial research centers.